


Dawn's Early Light

by LadyKF



Category: Before Crisis: Final Fantasy VII, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-08-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:42:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25757560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKF/pseuds/LadyKF
Summary: As dawn breaks, he reflects on where he's been, and how there's nowhere else he'd rather be.
Relationships: Elfé/Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 11
Collections: FF7 Fanworks Exchange '20





	Dawn's Early Light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WandererRiha](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WandererRiha/gifts).



> Riha, my friend, you said "I would freaking kill for some Seph/Elfe romantical stuff." SO, how could I do anything but deliver? (Pls do not kill anyone. XD)
> 
> I hope it's to your liking. As you know, these two in particular can be... _difficult_ on that note. But I wanted to give you that, even if I didn't have as much time to smooth it out as I would like.

Sephiroth had, at some point, become more given to introspection than he cared to admit. Veld said he got it from his father, which was entirely possible from the little he knew of the man. Funny to think of it now, having a father. Having a _family._

A quiet sound at his side made him look down, and a small smile touched his lips. It was not the first night Elfé had shared his bed, but it was the first morning she wasn't gone. They were both busy, he didn't begrudge her in the slightest, but it was _something_ to wake and find her still tucked against him. To watch the sunlight begin to peek through the curtains, catching the fringe of brown hair and turning it auburn with a warm undertone. In the quiet of the morning, she looked deceptively soft and small and innocent. _Precious_ was a far better word, if not one that he'd ever ascribed to anyone before her.

She was his first in many ways, more than she knew. The first to finally best him since he'd come into his own, something he'd craved more than he'd ever dared to express. The first to really make him stop and question Hojo and ShinRa and everything he'd _thought_ he'd known to be true. The first to light a fire in him that burned hot enough to melt through the unconscious chains he'd been bound by his whole life.

The first to make him feel _alive,_ and like maybe that was a good thing after all.

They'd circled around each other like stars caught in each other's gravity fields, threatening explosive mutual destruction until they'd found their rhythm.

How she'd managed to be in Nibelheim that day, he didn't know. He still wasn't sure how much of Genesis' caustic words she'd heard, but she'd found him in the manor after even Zack had given up for the night. She was the one who had stood up to him, time and again, and demanded the truth. When he didn't know it, when what he _thought_ he knew didn't stand up to her intense questioning (she was so much her father's daughter, though he was careful not to say so) they looked together.

She had her own motivation at first of course; she'd made no secret she'd have welcomed him to AVALANCHE, should he ever see the light about ShinRa.

Well. He saw the light that night.

Nibelheim would never know how lucky they were that it wasn't lit up in the flame of his fury. But she was right, they weren't the ones he was truly mad at.

They came after ShinRa together.

And they _won._ ShinRa couldn't have stood against him, even if the SOLDIERs hadn't immediately defected to his side. They most definitely couldn't stand against him, his SOLDIERs, a solid chunk of the army, AVALANCHE, and _Elf_ _é_. When the Turks unanimously took their side, the last pockets of resistance folded like a card house in a brisk breeze.

The aftermath was still rolling out. There were still battles to fight. And yet…

" _Mmmm_ staring at me?" Elfé murmured, shifting to press closer, their legs tangling loosely under the sheets.

"Did I wake you?" he asked softly.

"Probably not," she admitted, peering up at him sleepily. She smiled when his fingertips delicately brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "So gentle."

"I'm learning," Sephiroth said.

"You're doing fine." She raised a hand to catch his, gentle and warm as their fingers laced together. Gloves only helped so much against the calluses of constant swordplay, both their hands were rough, and bore small scars - hers, too, the scarring around the materia embedded in her hand. She no longer flinched when he touched it, calm and trusting.

They'd _earned_ that. Another first.

"Stuck in your head this morning?" she asked, watching him. Sometimes he wondered what she saw, when her eyes went soft like that.

"I suppose," he said eventually, shrugging. "There's a lot to think about."

"Mm." She yawned, and gave his shoulder a gentle push.

He allowed her to push him over without more than the 'suggestion' of it, smiling when she squirmed up to prop herself up on his chest. "Yes?"

"Talk to me," she murmured, and _meant it._ Not, perhaps, a true first in itself but the first to know when and how to insist, and when and how to tease it out of him instead. She preferred to be blunt with it, which he appreciated.

They could both be subtle, when necessary, but honesty in a relationship was a new and precious thing.

"Just thinking about how things have happened, so very quickly after being dragged out so long," he said after a moment, a hand finding her hair again to play with. An unfair advantage, she usually said; his was still braided back as it was every night for sleep, far too long to leave loose, especially with two of them in the bed.

"It wasn't sustainable," she said. "It would have all collapsed, one way or another. We just… helped it along."

"More than ShinRa," he clarified. "Though you're not wrong."

"Rufus is doing a good job," she said.

"Rufus has a great deal of motivation," Sephiroth said dryly; they had left it in no uncertain terms that he could very well lose everything he had if he didn't play nice. Perhaps a bluff, from any _one_ faction, but from so many… well. Rufus took chances, but he was no fool.

"Also true," she agreed, smiling faintly. She was fully awake now, but still showed no inclination to move any further, arms crossed over his chest and her chin resting on her wrist.

Sephiroth continued to play with her hair, gentle mussing that led to a scalp massage and her melting against him. "We've come a long way, you and I."

"You're unfairly philosophical this morning," she said, leaning into the massage like a cat in a sunbeam.

And people said _he_ was feline. Not where he could hear them, usually, but… well, it was just as well. He wanted to keep this side of her to himself, precious and safe and _his._

His hand trailed down her neck to spread over her back and she made a low sound of contentment that he echoed, rumbling between them in a bassy purr. "I think I understand the urge to 'play hooky' now."

Elfé laughed, a sound that he hadn't heard often enough and was always a little smug to elicit himself. "Why _General,_ are you suggesting we call out?"

"Just for a few hours," he bargained, fingertips drawing lazy patterns on her night shirt, thin enough to feel the warmth of her skin beneath. They were both far too used to having to be up and on the go at all hours to sleep entirely naked when they were on base, but there was an intimacy there all the same, seeing her sleep rumpled in little more than a thin cotton tee and shorts.

It rode up when she stretched, and he smiled faintly, following the motion. One day, they would get to… _everything else,_ but for now this was more than enough. "So?"

Elfé hummed lazily, raking a hand back through her hair and covering a yawn. "…I would pay good money to see Rufus' face if you called in _sick_."

Sephiroth laughed a little at that, lips curled in a warm smile. "Lucky you, we know people who could get footage of that. Is that your only condition?"

"Mmmm… I think that's enough," she said. "For now."

" _For now._ " He chuckled, capturing her hand. "Get me my phone then, and I'll call in."

Calling in _sick._ He could picture Hojo's absolute apoplectic _fit_ over it. He'd be rolling in his grave.

"You look positively _gleeful,_ " she observed, smiling as she handed over his PHS. "If I'd known you'd enjoy it so much, I'd have suggested it sooner."

"I was just picturing how _livid_ Hojo would have been."

There was a moment of silence before she snickered, shaking her head. "I imagine he would have been, yes."

Sephiroth smiled, green eyes sparkling, before his expression smoothed and he dialed Rufus, who was really the only person he reported to these days. It was ungodly early, the dawn still unfolding over the edge of the city, far earlier than he suspected Rufus preferred to be up and functioning if he had a choice. _All the better._

He may have slightly underestimated how seriously Rufus took the rare call from him, because the young President sounded surprisingly alert for someone whose voice was still just a little sleep-thick. "General? What's wrong?"

It was fortunate that Sephiroth had decades of practice at keeping his tone even, no matter what was going on. "I'm afraid I'm not quite feeling myself this morning. I will need an additional allotment of three hours before I will be able to meet with you."

He saw Elfé's eyes widen, only now remembering that yes, he'd had _a meeting._ With the _President._

It just made the ploy more fun.

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, but they had never had the relationship for Rufus to make personal inquiries. "…of course, General, take whatever time you need. Let me know when you're available and we'll make arrangements."

"Thank you, sir," he murmured, managing to put just a hint of roughness into his tone before strategically clearing his throat. Believable? Possibly. Enough to make a sleepy Shinra question himself? Oh most definitely. "I'll be in touch."

He hung up quickly, a little grin playing on his lips. "Now, about that footage…"

"It can wait," Elfé assured him, laying back down. " _I_ don't have anywhere to be until noon."

Sephiroth all but purred, wrapping her in his embrace. " _Perfect._ "


End file.
